Valentina Maria Quilietti was born on1st December 1895 at 24 Greenside Place, Edinburgh. She is the third born of the family of three boys and three girls. Her father was Emilio Quilietti and her mother Valentina Brattessani.

Her two baby sisters were to die in infancy, Eletta in 1899 and Amelia in 1900.

What she remembers of her father Emilio who died when she was only three and a half years old we do not know.

We do know however that despite her being only a youngster when he died she did keep in touch with her uncles, her father’s brothers in Italy and in Rhode Island. We know that Emilio’s two brothers Giuseppe and Adolfo were in Scotland sometime after Emilio’s death. With them also was their brother-in-law Peter Dante who had married their sister Ermenia in 1900 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This meeting with her uncles would have a profound affect of Valentina and we know that she wrote to them and kept in touch with them in these early years of the 20th century.

We believe that the event they had travelled for was the re-marriage of Valentina Quilietti to her first-cousin Santi Brattessani. This took place in April 1901 and all the Quilietti brothers were in Edinburgh at the time. Augusto Quilietti and his wife Francesca and daughter Angelina were also involved in the festivities at this time.

So the young Valentina Maria Quilietti would now be living at the new Quilietti address of 9 Greenside Place with all her Brattessani relations. Her mother had re-married to her cousin Sante Brattessani. The following four years would see her mother lose another four children to this cousin. We cannot imagine how this would have affected the young Valentina to see her mother lose these babies, and of course to see her mother die with the complications of childbirth in the year 1905.

Nardo with Tina 1950s

Her brothers however were still there for her and her aunts and uncles took on the role of parents. But when her step-father Sante returned home to Italy and married his childhood sweetheart things took a turn for the worse. This new wife came back to Edinburgh and came to live in the family home at 9 Greenside Place. She in turn threw out all the belongings of Valentina, his first wife, threw all the photographs into the bin to be disposed of.

It was only the quick thinking of Valentina Maria to rescue these personal things from the bin, which included photographs taken of her uncles at the wedding and to send them on to America which gives us now these wonderful relics of this time. Thanks to her we now have these wonderful photographs to look at, to see the faces of the Quilietti brothers.

We can only imagine how distraught she must have been at this act. Not only had she lost her parents, but also six siblings and her maternal grandparents all in a very short span of time.

VALENTINA QUILIETTI MURRAY with her son Tommy

The early part of the 1914-1918 war saw many rushed marriages and the Quilietti family were no exception to this rule. Joseph Angelo, her younger brother married in January 1915 to Catherine Kelly. Leonardo, her older brother had married in 1912 and already had two young children.

By the year 1915 she had met a young Scotsman by the name of Alexander Murray. They married on 12th February 1915 at St. Patrick’s R.C. Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh. Alex. then went off to the War and Valentina, or Tina as she was now known, grew close to her new sister-in-law Catherine. Catherine’s baby Duncan Quilietti was born on 31st December 1915 at 1 Dunbar’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh. She played a great part in helping Catherine with her new baby at this time and grew fond on her new nephew. Tragedy again was to hit the Quilietti family when on 4th November 1918 Catherine was to die with complications after a bad bout of flu.

Aunty Tina with Theresa,

Duncan Quilietti Murray

Joseph Angelo was now left with the decision on how best to deal with his three year old son. Valentina took on the role of Duncan’s mother and brought him up as her very own and from then on he was known as Duncan Quilietti Murray. He would be the eldest of the thirteen Murray children who were to follow.

Such was the kindness of Tina Quilietti. All who knew her said she was a beautiful lady with a kind heart and this unselfish act surely proved this fact to be correct.

The Murray Clan 1965 Golden Wedding

CHILDREN OF VALENTINA MARIA QUILIETTI and ALEXANDER MURRAY

Thanking Margaret Murray Adams for kindly sending on this wonderful family photo

DUNCAN QUILIETTI MURRAY

ALEXANDER MURRAY – Alex

ALEX MURRAY

EDWARD MURRAY

Eddie MURRAY

– Eddie

JAMES MURRAY – Jimmy

JOSEPH MURRAY –

Joe Murray

Joe

LEONARDO MURRAY – Leo

MARGARET MURRAY –

MARY JANE MURRAY

PHILOMENA [MINNIE] MURRAY

Minnie

ROBERT MURRAY

The Murray clan 1965 Golden wedding

VALENTINA MURRAY – Vallie

WILLIAM WILSON MURRAY – Bill was born on 11th June 1921. He married Pearl Louis Smith.

Pearl

They had two children, Margaret who was born in the year 1951 and Ian Joseph, their eldest, who was born in 1946.

Ian Joseph Murray, son of Bill and Pearl

Bill Murray, father of Margaret

Margaret Murray married David McDonald Adams and they have one son Scott McDonald Adams.

MAY MURRAY

THOMAS MURRAY – Tommy

TOMMY MURRAY

Aunty Tina remained not only a great mother but also a great aunt and her nieces and nephews remember her with great affection. She remained close with Nardo all her life and despite the early deaths of Joseph and Giulio their families visited her and the cousins were brought up together. She remained especially close with Theresa Quilietti.

Valentina was 86 when she died in the year 1982.

The Murray descendents are many and amongst them are University Rectors and Teachers.

any of the Murray family would like to help fill in the gaps please get in contact with Helen

THE Murray Clan

Margaret Murray Adams is the daughter of William Murray and the grandaughter of Valentina Quilietti. She has been in touch with me and I would now like to welcome her into our family.